1/15/2012

ITEC 4800, Spring 2013, Top-Down Design Scenario Case 1

Here is the actual description of the case, from the text: You are a network consultant who has been asked to attend an initial meeting with the executive management team of ElectroMyCycle, LLC. ElectroMyCycle manufactures motorcycles. Its new motorcycle was just picked up by a large retail chain. ElectroMyCycle is upgrading its manufacturing capacity and hiring new employees. Recently, ElectroMyCycle employees have started saying, The Internet is slow. They are also experiencing problems sending email, accessing web-based applications, and printing. In the past, when the company was small, it didnt have these problems. The operations manager outsourced computer services to a local business called Network Rogues, which installed new workstations and servers as needed, provided desktop support, and managed the switches, router, and firewall. ElectroMyCycle is now considering bringing computer services in-house and is wondering how its network should evolve as it increases production of its electric motorcycle.

1. What research will you do before your initial meeting with the executive management team? Before my initial meeting with the executive management team of ElectroMyCycle I would research their external relations such as the market that they are in, their customers, suppliers, competitors, products produced, services supplied, financial viability, and competitive advantages. This will allow me to position technologies and products to help strengthen the customers status in their industry. By understanding the customers business goals and constraints I will be able to propose a network design that would meet the customers approval. 2. What general problems does ElectroMyCycle seem to be experiencing? What network design principles may have been ignored when Network Rogues designed and operated the existing network? Problems 1. Slow Internet 2. Sending email 3. Accessing web-based applications 4. Printing

Design principles that may have been ignored by Network Rogues could include analyzing ElectroMyCycles initial requirements, scalability (the ability of a network to handle a growing amount of work or its ability to be enlarged to accommodate that growth), bandwidth (the average rate of successful data transfer through a communication path), and latency (the measure of the time delay experienced by a system). I dont believe that Network Rogues were expecting the major jump in growth of the company which was caused by the increase in the production of the electric motorcycle and unfortunately did not design the network to handle this growth.

3. List four major stakeholders for a new network design for ElectroMyCycle. For each stakeholder, list a minimum of two design goals, constraints, and biases. 1. End Users Design goals ease of use, good performance, response time Constraints number of stations, size of the network Biases may only want to use certain applications or certain e-mail programs, equipment preferences 2. Executives Design goals increased employee productivity, increased profits, less overhead Constraints budget, staffing Biases biases toward certain technologies, acquisition (whos going to be their supplier) 3. Managers Design goals network performance, security, availability Constraints scheduling, politics and policies Biases familiarity of the system, time (how rapidly the system is available for use) 4. Customers Design goals better customer support, offer new customer service, ease of access Constraints data security, ease of use Biases has to be easy to access, simple, appearance of ease of use or they wont use it, has to look like what the customers are used to using 4. List five questions you will pose to the executive management team. Why will you pose these questions? 1. What is your organizational structure? Posing this question will allow me to gain an understanding of how the company is structured in departments, lines of business, vendors, partners, and field or remote offices. This will eventually help me locate major user communities and will suggest users to account for as well as suggest geographical locations to account for. Understanding their organizational structure can also help me recognize their management hierarchy which will allow me to determine who the decision makers are. 2. What is your overall goal of the network design project? Asking the customer for a concise statement of their goals will allow me to determine the problems they are trying to solve and how the new technology will help them be more successful in their business. It will enable me to understand what the business is trying to achieve so that I can create a compelling proposal for their new network. 3. What will the new network be used for? As a network designer I have to have a good understanding of what the network will be used for and also what network assets should be protected. I need to know who will be using this network and also what type of activities it will be used for. With a better understanding of my clients expectations and needs for the new network I will be able to concentrate on exactly what they are looking for and design the network per their request.

4. What is the expected budget for this project and who controls the network budget? I have to know how much money I am working with so that I can design the network to meet the customers budget. Their budget should include allocations for equipment purchases, software licenses, maintenance and support agreements, testing, training, and staffing. It should also include consulting fees, my pay, and fees for outsourcing. I also have to know if their budget will cover expenses such as hiring more network managers and training for those managers. In order for this project to be successful I have to try to stay in the companys budget and chose the most affordable solution determined by their budget. 5. May I have a copy of your security policy? I would ask the executive management team for a copy of their security policy so that I could get a better understanding of how the policy will affect the new design, how the new design would affect the policy, and whether or not the policy is too strict to where I wont be able to do my job.